Back in Action

The students returned to school on the 20th. They were pleased to be back after a 21 day vacation. Upon my return, I was greeted by the three flagpoles that were once hidden behind 30 foot evergreens next to the school building and now stand way out in front of the school, proudly displaying the Macedonian National Flag. The Director must have gotten tired of me harping about flying the flag, because she had them moved over the vacation. Or maybe she just thought it was a good Idea. Anyway, we are currently the only public building, or for that matter any building, flying the national colors daily. I’m hoping the idea catches on at the Municipal Building and the other two schools in town.

Alexandra and I are still coming up with supplemental ways to teach English. We are developing a system to rollback the amount of time the students spend in class copying vocabulary and grammar rules (good news: the government provides books to all students; bad news: students can’t write in them ). We are using music, English reading materials from our friends in America, and Macedonian-English dictionaries. The several dictionaries that we have open up many new instructional techniques and allow us to involve in different ways, all of the learners in class. In learning a new language, building a working vocabulary is a key to building up the confidence of the learner to speak and write. The texts that the Macedonian teachers must use, fail in helping the students build a vocabulary because they are genetically written to teach English to students, regardless of their native language.

Currently students attempt to learn English without classroom dictionaries. In reality, 98% (hyperbole) of the English teachers in Macedonia do not have their own classroom . They must travel from class to class and bring with them, only what they can carry. So dictionaries are not used and learning a new language remains more challenging for the students than need be.

David and I took a day trip to Skopje over the holidays (he hadn’t yet had a chance to explore it) to catch the Christmas decorations and ambiance of the capital during the holiday season. The City Fathers (if there are such people) did a marvelous job and located a temporary ice skating rink in the center plaza. People were having a good time and in good spirits. When you go to Skopje, you can leave your Macedonian language home. Most of the store clerks and waitresses/waiters speak English so at least you can make a purchase or order some food without getting out your dictionary. I stocked up on peanut butter and David bought a Macedonian flag to fly on national holidays.

The 19th of January is a feast day/holiday in the Orthodox Balkans, or at least here in Macedonia. The feast day commemorates the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. The local priests, at the conclusion of the morning ceremony, toss a cross into the lake (as in Ohrid), the river (as in Vardar) or the swimming pool (as in Probistip). As I understand it, men from town who have married within the last year, are entitled to plunge into the winter waters in an attempt to retrieve the floating cross. Honor and blessings are bestowed upon the retrieveree (click at the top of the page on my annotated photos)

We’ve had a few light snowfalls in January, but unlike my first winter here, it has remained cold enough for the snow to stick around for more than a day. The children continue to flock to the "hill" outside my apartment, having as much fun as any skier or snowboarder at Aspen or Whistler. The majority of the residents in my neighborhood heat and cook with wood and basically live in one room for the duration of the winter. With the cold weather of the last few weeks, I see the babas (grandmothers)and pensioneers continuously fetching wood from their storage sheds located behind of the apartment buildings. Fortunately, all I need to do when it gets too cold, is turn up the dial on the thermostat of my electric heater. Electricity is an expensive alternative to wood, so a large percentage of Probistipians continue to use the traditional method of heating and cooking.

I am currently working on a bunch of projects (try to visualize a bunch of projects) which are keeping me very busy. I met the mayor’s chief-of-staff who invited me to give a presentation to the mayor and his staff on my observations and ideas as a one-year resident of their community. I was asked to facilitate a session at the upcoming mid-service- conference for the MAK13’s. I’m monitoring the best English students at school who are translating into Macedonian, Physical Education activities for the lower grade teachers and English-for-Police for the Probistip Police Department.

Right now, I have to do the monthly cleaning of my apartment, do two loads of laundry once the water comes back on, bake a pie using the apples that I received from my neighbors, make a carrot (the Vegetable of the Month) salad that I found on the internet which uses maple syrup and make some soup using the carcass of yesterday’s roast chicken.

Wait a minute! Aren’t those women’s chores? I hope I’ll still remember how to use a hammer, change the oil in my car, and spit once I return home to America.